The Bread of Life, #1961

47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” (John 6:47–51, NASB95)

Bread is a staple of physical life and stands for the food that sustains life. Jesus takes this common truth and applies it to Himself as the bread of life (Jno. 6:35, 48). He is “the living bread that came down out of heaven” (Jno. 6:51). When we “eat this bread” (His flesh, the offering of His body to give life to the world, v. 51), we will live forever. How do we eat His flesh and drink His blood to have life eternal (Jno. 6:53-56)? Not by cannibalism (Jno. 6:52). Not by the Roman Catholic Church’s Eucharist and transubstantiation (this verse does not discuss the Lord’s Supper). We eat His flesh and drink His blood (figuratively) for eternal life by coming to Jesus and believing in Him as the “bread of life” (Jno. 6:35). By the words of Christ (which “are spirit and are life,” Jno. 6:63), the Father teaches and draws sinners to the Son (Jno. 6:44-45). Faith in Jesus Christ comes from hearing God’s word (Rom. 10:17). The word of Christ says actions produced by faith are necessary to partake of the bread of life for eternal life. In faith one must 1) Confess faith (Rom. 10:9-10), 2) Repent (Acts 2:37-38; 17:30), 3) Be baptized (Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:37-38), 4) Be a faithful servant of Jesus (cf. Jno. 4:34; Rom. 12:1-2). Jesus has the “words of eternal life” (Jno. 6:68). Live by His words, and you will live forever (Jno. 6:51).